 | To mobilize or not to mobilize is not the question. Many businesses find their employees are going mobile anyway. But by not being proactive, they may miss out on some of the key benefits of Windows Mobile.
Some 71 percent of businesses report their number of remote workers is growing, according to the study "The Remote Revolution: Uptime Issues, Implications & Imperatives in the Mobile Workforce" by the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum. And the number is growing with—or without—the blessings of IT departments. The doctors, sales reps, field operatives, and financiers are benefiting from using mobile devices in an ad hoc way, even though many suspect that they could accomplish a lot more if their organization officially went mobile.
Ten years ago, intranets were starting to sprout like dandelions after a spring rain. I was writing a book on the subject (intranets, not dandelions), and found a similar grassroots venture into technology. In some companies, somebody in the communications group learned a little HTML coding, put a server under their desk, and just did it. Unfortunately, because they didn't talk to IT, they couldn't connect their departmental intranet to resources across the corporate network. In other companies, the IT department built an intranet and then told their business groups to "come and get it." Unfortunately, because they didn't talk to their users, more often than not, their sites weren’t used. There's a lesson in this: IT departments and users both have to see the benefits of the technology—and work together to implement it. | |
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| | A word to Business | | | If your IT group hasn’t brought a mobile project to the table themselves, they may have bought into some of the common myths about mobility: | | | "We know we need mobility, but we have to get our current IT system cleaned up first." A worthy ideal, but like housework, those chores are never really done. Besides, going mobile can streamline back-end systems and processes. Many processes that field workers do today—such as inspecting assets, ordering materials, and taking customer orders—are ripe for productivity gains. "Sure, we can add mobility." The most successful mobility solutions are not just added on, but built in. A truly effective solution integrates mobile devices into the back-end system. Doing so, for example, may allow doctors to access records and electronically prescribe medicine from a patient's bedside. “We are a mobilized enterprise. Our execs carry cell phones.” That's nice, but if they and the people in the field could tap into the power of line-of-business applications, they could get more done. Ideally, for a company to "go mobile" the IT group will need the tools to build, manage, and change applications, as well as connect to enterprise applications. "Then, there's the security issues." Yes, they need to be addressed, but even security need not be a showstopper. With the right encryption schemes, network protections, procedures, and enforceable policies in place, security issues are manageable. Companies using Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 devices and the Microsoft Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 can use the Windows Messaging and Security Feature Pack to help IT staff mitigate the risks of adding devices to the edge of the network. The market for mobile device security products is also maturing.
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| | Get the right people in the room | | | No use talking to yourselves. If you're on the sales team, make sure you've got qualified representation from IT, Operations, Support, Purchasing, Legal, Compliance, as well as other relevant departmental stakeholders. Make sure you include some actual mobile device users and get executive sponsorship. The user group will show you practical barriers you must overcome; the exec can help you overcome organizational barriers.
One of the ongoing tasks of the task force is to learn language from each other. When you're talking about being able to access e-mail or SQL data in real-time, they're thinking in terms of "message queuing," rather than synchronization. | |
| | Gather your requirements | | | The process goes like this: Business-types will identify specific data and communication needs, IT-types will translate them first into a technical strategy, and then into architectural and device choices they can support. | | | Profile your users. Identify each user segment and create a persona against which to test provisioning decisions. For example, if you work in a medical center, what are the skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and maintenance staff about using mobile devices? User acceptance is critical to getting the most out of your mobile investment. I call this process "audience alchemy" – when you thoroughly understand the end users, you can turn the information into gold. What types of information do your people need? What data do employees need to capture and access? For example, an insurance adjuster needs to transmit pictures of the damage and needs access to policy information on the insured. A technician sent to repair unfamiliar equipment needs access to point-of-need training. How do your people interact with data? What types of data presentation and data input do they need? Long before Windows Mobile powered devices were a gleam in the eye of a Windows CE developer, I was in the field with a forester scouting a timber location. He had a clunky mobile device, in which he had to input coordinates and other technical data. The weather was cold. The sun was bright. The keypad was small; his gloved fingers were large. It was not a good fit.
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| | The types of information and the types of interaction affect strategic choices. It's really the same conversation as when your group was considering desktop or laptop PCs. What do you need to succeed?
Be sure to drill into what is unique about each group's workflow and working environments that would affect choices of devices, applications, and infrastructure changes. Part of the process is separating the "nice to have" from the "must have" features, and then stack ranking them. | |
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| Expect to standardize | | | Give your IT department a break. According to the BPM Forum study, 86% of respondents said their IT departments are under greater pressure to support mobile and remote workers. Rather than expecting IT to have the budget to add support staff, make it easier on the department by standardizing on a set number of devices. If you've done your homework on profiling users' needs, you'll already know which features—such as QWERTY keyboard or tap-tap-tap input method—are the right fit for each segment of your mobile population.
Another advantage of limiting the type of devices, especially for smaller companies without an IT department, is informal peer training. The Verus Group is an on-the-go small market research firm in Evergreen, Colorado. The four employees have identical MDAs, allowing them to help each other with technical issues.
Whether your organization is small or large, the decision to go mobile provides a huge opportunity. Don’t wait for someone else to take advantage of it. | |
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| About the Author | |
| |  Tyson Greer is CEO of Ambient Insight LLC, a research and development firm that specializes in wireless productivity products and mobile learning technology. As a mobile maven, Tyson makes a habit to keep in close touch with colleagues and customers on the latest mobile device she can get her hands on. | |
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